Unit Nine The Damned HumanRace

Period 5-6: Detailed Study of theText

1. Forit obliges me to renounce my allegiance to the Darwinian theory of the Ascent of Man from the Lower Animals and to name it the Descent of Man from the Higher Animals. (para. 1)

—Because the resultof my study forces me to give up/ to aba nd on my loyalty to / firm belief in Darwin's theory of evolution and to change the theory of the Ascent of Man from theLower Animals to the theory of the Descent of Man from the Higher Animals.

2. I have subjected every postulate that presented itself to the crucial test of actual experiment... ( para . 2)

— In other words, I have put every theory or hypothesis there is to the decisive test of actual experiment.对于研究中出现的每个假设，我都要通过实验对其进行严格检验……

subject sth/ sb to sth: to cause sb./ sth. to undergo or experience sth unpleasant or difficult and oftenfor a long time , e. g.

   They were subjected to very cruel tortures.

   The desertification subjected people living in that area to great hardships.

presented itself: happens or exists, e.g.

   When theopportunity presents itself you must seize it at once.

   I think they are still waiting for a more favorable situation to present itself.

3. The facts stood proven that the difference between an earl and an anaconda is that the earl is cruel and the anaconda isn't... (para. 3)

stand: V-LINK,  to be in a particular condition or situation. You can use stand instead of "be" when you are describing the present state or condition of something or someone. 处于（某种状态或情形）

   The house stood empty for a long time. 那所房子空了好长一段时间。

   — “You're wrong about the date— It was 1988.” “你把日期搞错了——是1988年。”

— “I stand corrected (= accept that I was wrong) .” “你说得对，是我搞错了。”

4. I was aware that many men who have accumulated more millions of money than they can ever use have shown a rabid hunger for more , and have not scrupled to cheat the ignorant and the helpless out of their poor savings in order to partially appeasethat appetite. ( para . 4)

— I knew that many men who have more money than they can ever use have shown a mad desire to get more, and they have not hesitated to cheat poor people and steal their few savings in order to satisfy that desire.

rabid: uncontrollable

Note: "Rabid" is related to "rabies ," which is an acute, infectious and often fatal disease of dogs, also known as hydrophobia, transmitted by the bite of the infected animal.

have not scrupled to do sth: to have not hesitated to do sth because of troubled conscience or embarrassment from moral considerations

cheat sb out of sth: totrick or deceive sb in order to get an advantage , e.g.

   cheat sb out of his money or job or land , etc.

the ignorant and helpless: the uneducated and powerless people; the poor laboring people in general

Notice how the adjectives "ignorant" and "helpless" become nouns with "the" (also "the homeless," “the rich," etc.).

appease: to satisfy or relieve (hunger, thirst, desire, etc.)

5. Cats are loose in their morals , but not consciously so. Man, in his descent from the cat, has brought the cat's looseness with him but has left the unconsciousness behind-the saving grace which excuses the cat. ( para . 7)

—Cats are immoral, but they do not know it. They just can't help it. Man has inherited cats' looseness but not their innocence, which excuses the cat for its low morals.

loose: [usually before noun] ( old-fashioned) having or involving an attitude to sexual relationships that people consider to be immoral 放荡的；淫荡的

loose: a. not fastened/restrained/contained/ strictly controlled

Examples:

   Her hair hung loose to her shoulders.

   The window is noisy because it is loose.

   a loose translation/ thinking 不严格的翻译/ 不严密的思想

   a loose shirt 宽大的衬衣

   a loose alliance/ coalition/ federation 松散的联盟╱同盟╱联邦

   The sheep had got out and were loose on the road. 那些羊跑出来在路上自由自在地走动

 

the saving grace: [usuallysing.] the one good quality that a person or thing has that prevents the morit from being completely bad;  the redeeming quality; the quality that makes up for the generally negative characteristics 仅有的优点；唯一可取之处

grace: n. a quality pleasing for its refinement or charm

Examples:

   fall from grace: to lose the trust or respect that people have for you, especially by doing sth wrong or immoral（尤指因做了错事或不道德之事而）失宠/失去信誉

   be in one's good graces被某人喜欢/得到某人的赞同

   be in one's bad graces被某人讨厌

   have the (good) grace to do sth: to be polite enough to do sth, especially when you have done sth wrong （尤指犯错后）知趣地做某事，通情达理地做某事

   She answered their questions with grace and dignity. 她很得体地回答了他们的提问。

   He had the grace to say he was wrong. 他大大方方地说他错了。

6. . .. so alive are he and his mates to indecent suggestion. (para. 8)

… he a nd other fellows are so aware of indecent suggestions.

be alive to: to be conscious or aware of

indecent suggestion: dirty hint, esp. related to sex

7. …in our day in England a man is fined ten shillings for beating his mother nearlyto death with a chair, and another man is fined forty shillings for having four pheasant eggs in his possession without being able to satisfactorily explain how he got them. (Para. 9)

— Mark Twain is satirizing the fact that under the English law at that time, a mother's life was worth only one pheasant egg because the latter was considered private property.

8. prior: n. a person who is in charge of a group of monks or nuns living in a priory （小隐修院）院长

adj. preceding in time or order; happening or existing before sth else or before a particular time 先前的；较早的；在前的

Examples:

   a prior choice

   the week prior to the meeting 在开会前的一周

   Visits are by prior arrangement . 参观需要事先安排。

   She will be unable to attend because of a prior engagement . 因事先有别的安排，她将不能出席。

9. Man is the Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion—several of them. (Para. 14)

— Man claims to be the only animal capable of religious belief. Religion of course is considered here something much more important and noble than animal instincts because it emphasizes the spiritual and moral life of human beings. But Mark Twain sneers at this because the different religions in the world have resulted in endless religious suppressions, persecutions and wars.

10. odds and ends: n. small articles of various kinds, without much value

Examples:

   The old round tin filled up with countless other odds and ends.

   He only heard some odds and ends.

   She spent the day sorting through a box full of odds and ends. 

她花一天工夫整理装满小玩意儿的箱子。

  I've got a few odds and ends (=small jobs) to do before leaving. 我临行之前还有些杂事要处理。